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strawberry cake with vanilla frosting

Just a quick post in between my classes. I really really really do not want to have to go to my physics lab tonight. I thought maybe eating some cupcakes would help motivate me, but now I only want to curl up in bed and take a nap. Three more hours and I can nap and eat all the cupcakes I want!

Branching out

I made a Facebook page for my blog/Etsy! This isn't exactly new news, since a link has been available on the left side of my blog for a few weeks now, but I haven't announced it. I'm still trying to figure everything out with it, and I should get better about updating more often in the next few weeks once I have more to say.
I also made myself a tumblr, since I know a lot of people use that. For people who have no idea what a tumblr is (like my mom), it's basically just a bunch of pictures I like. I save a lot of pictures I come across to make inspiration posts on my blog, but most of the time I have to cut back on tons of them because I want this to be MY blog and not just a bunch of other people's pictures. So if you have a tumblr, please leave me a link to it in the comments so I can follow you!

In a more literal sense of branching out, I bought a few plants to start my garden up again. The zinnias I started from seed are still coming along nicely, and I rearranged my bedroom so I could set up another small greenhouse to grow sweet pea, balsam, and verbena. I also bought some house plants, although I don't have a bookshelf yet to keep them out of Artoo's reach. He has been ok about them so far, I just hope it stays that way.

Valentine's Day inspiration

1. pink EVERYWHERE (wip!), 2. Carnival Colors, 3. 1956-Cadillac-Coupe-De-Ville, 4. Valentine's Day Cupcakes, 5. Vintage Lovebirds, 6. doo's heart, 7. Boopsie Valentines, 8. kissed into a smile, 9. kesakuu5-2007 039

 I'm so excited about Valentine's Day, mainly for all the cute stuff they are selling. Target is a girlie girl wonderland this time of year. I was lucky to move out this time of year so I could easily find all the pink stuff I wanted for my apartment. I'll have to get back out there and see what else I can grab this year.

I feel you, Art.

Watch his little paw rise up and stretch as he's yawning! Precious!

Wednesdays are terrible for me. So many classes, so much running around to get to them all. It's just exhausting! I'm ready to go take a little cat nap with Artoo, but I'm lucky that I have a lot of free time tomorrow to finish schoolwork and mail things out. They've finally started to sell seeds at the stores again, so I bought a little windowsill greenhouse and started a couple candy stripe zinnias to see how it goes.

So far so good!

It always makes me excited watching things grow, especially from seed. They're already starting to get a little too big for the greenhouse, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. It's still too cold to put them outside, and if I keep them inside without the cover I fear that little kitty will destroy them. I would like to get rid of my broken desk and eventually buy a simple bookshelf to keep plants on. My room gets such good light in the day, it's a shame not to take advantage of that with some houseplants. I haven't been sewing all that much, but I've been really happy with what I have been able to get done.

available here

It's definitely a little bit away from my normal super girlie with little critter type fabric, but I still really like it. It's Lizzy House fabric I found in a fat quarter bundle. I'm a huge fan of Lizzy House and I had seen this design ("pearl bracelet") on her blog, but I had never seen it available in stores or online, so I was very excited to scoop this up. Orange is my favorite color! The pearls are a very light grey, so I used a darker grey with a little bit of light blue and burnt orange on the inside, and a light grey zipper. I wish the zipper could have been a little lighter, but I think it serves as a nice middle tone between the light pearls and the darker lining and zipper end fabric.

Short and sweet

I'll make this quick because Artoo is currently laying on my arms/computer and he's so fat that I can hardly move my fingers. If you're thinking "aw, he's a sweet cat:" you are WRONG. Look at the mess I got to wake up to this morning. (He also puts his food in his water bowl before he scoops it out to eat it, leaving a bunch of soggy kibble bits in the water which drives me crazy)
Here is what I've been up to:

I also made a few other zippered pouches, but I think these new slouchy makeup bags are my favorite. I will have to go buy more interfacing to make more, though.
Ok, I think my arms are falling asleep because of all his weight on top of me. I promise I'll make a better post over the weekend.

Let's fly, let's fly away

new makeup pouch available here

Whenever I look at this fabric I always get Frank Sinatra stuck in my head. I had to listen to Come Fly With Me while taking these pictures today, and I just noticed that I opened my blinds into the living room so all of my neighbors could have seen me dancing to it, which looks something like Elaine from Seinfeld,  Snoopy, and Pee Wee Herman all combined. Oops.
I have another pouch like this all cut out and ready to be sewn up in cute Japanese fabric with little animals holding hands. I also have a few regular rectangular pouches finished, I just need to take pictures of them. I'm still trying to adjust to my school schedule. It's pretty crazy now that I've changed my classes all around, but I have Thursdays almost all clear, so I'm expecting to be able to do all of my shipping/sewing on that day to relax a bit. I'm happy I have sewing as a hobby because my head might just explode if I didn't have something to take my mind off school.

Back to school

Today was my first day of the new semester. I woke up bright and early at 7:30am to go to a class that I ended up dropping, anyway. Because one of my classes ended up being for graduate students (how I somehow ended up in there I have no idea) I had to change my schedule all around. I think I'm happy with it, but I ended up adding an art history course that is all the way across campus (over a mile walk for me) and an anatomy course with a lab, and I'm a little paranoid it's going to involve cadavers. I used to work at a funeral museum, so I'm not freaked out by dead people... I just don't want to cut one up. Or touch one. Or really even look at one. I guess I'll find out what the class is like tomorrow!
Other than that, it's great being back in my apartment. I love being surrounded by my stuff. I have a decent collection of cute vintage knick knacks, and once I clean my apartment I'd like to re-do my apartment tour with my nice new camera.
I'm also so thankful that I get to bring my cat to live with me in Austin. When I came home from class this afternoon I immediately laid down in bed and he ran over and jumped on me and was smashing his face against mine. He's a good kitty.

I made his collar! He scratches up all the ones available at the store, but his claws can't get into the cotton I used.

p.s. The back to school sale (coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL) for 15% off total purchase is ending tonight! It's running in both of my Etsy stores.

I'm moving!

Well, my Etsy shop is moving. I created a new shop in order to change my Etsy user name (it won't let you change it any other way). While I still have items available in my old shop, I will be moving everything over to the new shop within the week.

New shop right here!!

What can you expect from my new shop? Pretty much the same as my old one, as far as products go, but I have updated all of my listings to now include international shipping that way you don't have to message me for a shipping quote anymore, just click and purchase! I also have new bobby pins available as well as pin sets. I may have some fancy metal closure coin purses in the works, too, but you won't see those for another month.
I am just going to keep on plugging away at this Etsy thing, making things I love, and hoping someone else will be able to love them, too. Thank you to all who have purchased anything from me. Because of you I can actually afford to craft!

Gracie and Artoo Detoo say thank you, as well! >^.^<

In progress..

These pictures are brought to you by my new camera! I was borrowing my dad's Cannon Rebel T1i for all of my pictures, but I will be going back to Austin soon, where the best available camera is on my phone. :(
So!! My dad and stepmom got me an early birthday present!! I'm excited to use it more and learn how to work all the bells and whistles.

I have all of the supplies I need for pouches laid out on my ironing board so I can make some makeup bags/larger pouches today. I love the weight of the linen blend (it's heavier than 100% cotton) and all of the adorable designs. I'm all out of pink zippers so I am unable to use the rest of my new fabric, but never fear! I have an order of zippers coming in next week.
My earrings have gotten a pretty good reception, too! I think these Russian nesting doll earrings are my favorite so far. I also made them in a slightly larger 7/8" size so that two dolls fit on one earring.

New packaging!

New pins!

I made some packaging for my stuff with the help of my dad. My dad has EVERYTHING. No matter what I need, I just ask him and he'll go out to the garage or up to his office and bring it out for me. It's crazy. He provided the card stock, plastic bags, and paper cutter (who has one of these just laying around?!) to make all of this possible. I slightly modified my blog header to fit what I was looking for, and printed out what feels like a bazillion pages of tags and stickers. I apologize in advance to anyone who ordered things from me in the past few days, because you probably got an overload of my logo, but I just couldn't contain my excitement. I think it just adds a little something extra to make the package special.

I also got my new fabric in! I mailed out this pouch made with the Heather Ross fabric I have been gushing over for the past week today and it was a little sad to see it go. I might have to make myself one before all  of that fabric is gone.

p.s. If you want to see this packaging in person, still have the 15% off coupon going on for my Etsy store! The code is BACKTOSCHOOL.

"THE RIPPER"

Ripley two days after we got her (Dec 10th 2010)

Ripley two days ago. (January 10th, 2011)

I can't believe how big Ripley has gotten in only a month. When we first got her she had these huge bear paws that I thought she would go into, but they're just growing along with her! She's getting huge!! She still gets into plenty of trouble, but she's too cute to get mad at. I am also immensely impressed by her intelligence. She's only 12 weeks old and knows how to sit, do a handshake, and lay down. She's a puppy genius!! Maybe that's the norm for pups, but I like to think she's way above average. ;-)

I would also like to thank everyone who reads my blog. I always check my stats to see where I'm at, and so far this month I've exceeded the previous page views I had all of last month (which was my highest month)! It makes me so giddy. For the first couple months it felt like I was beaming stuff off into space waiting for some alien life form to receive my message. Now it really feels like I have people to share stuff with, so thank you!

Back to school sale!

I start my Spring semester one week from today, and to celebrate I'm giving anyone who follows my blog 15% off your total purchase in my store!

puppy earrings and hedgehog earrings

I've added a few new things to my shop, among them are these super cute earrings, for only $3.50! Since they're new, I figured I'd offer them for a low price to test them out. In order to get 15% off, use the coupon code "backtoschool" when checking out. If you're buying from outside the U.S., please convo me first with the items you wish to purchase, and I will weigh them to get a shipping estimate and update the listing for you. I give really reasonable shipping rates, so I promise you it won't be painful if you're outside the U.S.!
As long as you contact me before Tuesday, January 18th, you will get the 15% off!

Things I Love: Accessories

It has been a while since I've done one of these! Below are a few of my favorite accessories, and I found a neat widget to display the items I have listed in my wists.

my wists | clone this

p.s. there's a Heather Ross GIVEAWAY over at Fussy Cut! She's giving away a fat eight set of goooorgeous out of print Heather Ross fabric. This material is really hard to find, and when you can find it, they want like $15 or more for a few little scrap pieces.

Here's where you can find everything from my Things I Love post

Paying it forward

I have two of my packages ready to be shipped out on Monday! The rest should be finished by the end of the week. I figured I should do it all now before I get lazy and forget about it. I'm the worst when it comes to sending things out. My family lives back in New Hampshire while I'm in Texas, so every year for Christmas I make all of their presents on time, but they end up sitting in my closet until June because I hate dealing with the post office. I promise that won't happen for my Pay It Forward people!
Also, I got a custom banner for my blog made by Rai! I gave her a picture of me, my cat, and my scooter and told her to have at it. Look how fabulous it is.

I love Artoo Detoo riding the scooter!

Today I'm being really lazy and laying around watching TV. I like to think I'm recharging to be productive for the next week. I have to finish registering for my spring semester classes and buy textbooks, mail stuff out, and hopefully add more items to my etsy store so I can keep up with my goal of 20 items listed at all times. All very exciting stuff, I know. I'm surprised I don't make blog updates about school more often because it feels like that's all I ever talk about anymore, but I know how uninteresting it can be. I started this blog to share cute stuff, and physics and evolutionary neurobiology are certainly NOT CUTE. It's almost like I live a double life. In my free time I do lots of crafting and other creative things, but the rest of my life is all about very technical stuff. It works for me, though. It gives a nice balance.

New fabric!!

click to enlarge

I put in an order for some new fabric last night and I am SO excited about it. On top of the fabric I ordered above, I also got a fat quarter of Heather Ross's Owl and the Pussycat in plum which I know I paid way too much for, but it's one of my absolute favorites. Depending on if I get any interest with the Heather Ross fabric, I may order more from her Far Far Away collection. It's so expensive, but I'm trying to phase out my junk fabric and only buy designer stuff so I have a stash of fabric that I love every piece of.
What fabric from the picture do you like the most? I love all of them, but I'm especially excited about the poodle one because it is a nice linen blend. I can't wait to pair it with a pretty light bubblegum pink polka dot or solid fabric.

Pay it forward 2011!

Graphic made by Rai at Blargle Fargle

I got on board for this through Rai at Blargle Fargle, so now it's my turn to post! Just leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you. I hope I can get enough people to do this! I don't have that my Blogger followers, but I have my anonymous comments turned on, so you can still leave a comment, and then post this to your Facebook, Myspace (do people still use that?) Livejournal, ect if you don't have a blog.

I love crafting, but I love giving even more! The picture above is of some stuff that you may receive if you're one of the first 5 comments.
:-D

My Five:
1.Anna at Lawrence Girls
2.Nnenna at star-crossed smile
3. Lee at Yellow Boots
4. Hannah at ruby&lo
5. Anput at Anput's Crafts

Light at the end of the tunnel

Both available here!

Tomorrow is the last day of my 3 week statistic mini-mester course. I'm looking forward to getting my life back for the next week before I have to go back to Austin for my Spring semester at UT. I have had a bunch of half finished pouches sitting on my ironing board for the past few days but haven't been able to touch them because of homework and studying.
Some things I'm excited about (besides the start of my mini-vacation):
-These squirrel charms I found. I was looking for the bird charms I had used on my other round of pouches, but couldn't find them. I was just about to give up when I dug through a bin and found SQUIRREL CHARMS!!
-Finding a fat quarter pack of Lizzy House fabric at JoAnn's. Lizzy House is one of my favorite designers and I found two FQ packs of her Lizzy Dish collection at JoAnn's before and just about peed myself, so I always check to see if they have any more. A few days ago I found a pack with that duck fabric, another duck design in lime green, and two colorways of her pearl fabric (which I love).
-My Etsy sales lately. I get SO excited whenever I sell something, no matter how small. My only goal for Etsy is to make enough money so I can continue crafting without going broke from it, and to hopefully be able to create something that someone will love. It's like I get to make a bunch of presents! I get so excited about them going to their new homes.
-Once I make another sale or two, I'm planning on putting in order for a bunch of nice Japanese import fabric like Kokka and Echino.  Aren't they gorgeous? I can't wait to get my paws on them!

I love my Mummy!!

 

Click to enlarge.

Just a quick post for today. I'm busy making more items for my shop and doing homework, but I had to take some time to show the Betty Crocker book I got from my mom. I got my Christmas package today and it had this book, my favorite movies (Better Off Dead and Peter Cottontail), marshmallow and cinnamon bun body wash, a milk glass bud vase, and PEZ! All my favorite stuff, she knows me so well!
In honor of how awesome my mom is, I took a picture of the Starlight Cake recipe, her favorite. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's eve. My friend Chelsea (the one who came over a few days ago to sew) gave me an awesome box full of vintage craft supplies last night. It has seed beads and sequins in cute jars, and thread on a wooden spool. I'm planning on beading a cardigan with them and using them in the embroidery I do. The box also contained pink rhinestones, which will definitely get used up. Part of my New Year's resolutions this year was to put more effort towards looking fabulous, which basically just means "wear more glittery/sparkly things". I just bought a few pearl and rhinestone barrettes and all of the stuff I need to make glitter flats, so I'm on my way.

Rimmel lipstick in Pink Chic and Jet Set Red. I love the Jet Set Red because it smells like the cherry dip from Dairy Queen! In the back: Revlon nail polish in Minted. It's a nice opaque sea foam green.

 I also want to do my hair and makeup more this year. It's just hard to get motivated to pin my hair up or put makeup on when I have to wake up early and walk (run) to my classes in the morning, but taking some extra time for myself ends up making me feel better about myself for the whole day, so I think it's worth it. A few of my favorite vintage girl blogs are Casey's Elegant Musings, Diary of a Vintage Girl, and Mrs. Amber Apple. These girls dress in 40's fashions daily and will do occasional tutorials for hair, nails, or makeup. I bought myself a hot sticks after watching this tutorial and have been doing my hair like that, or at least trying to do my hair like that, for the past week or so. By the end of the year I'm hoping I can master victory rolls and faux bangs, which look deceptively simple in the videos.

Available here

Another goal this year is to actually keep up with my etsy. I'd like to completely re-do it, promote it a little more, and have at least 20 items in it at all time. Even more than my etsy store, I'd like to improve my blog. I love all things girlie and cute, and I started my blog to document and share the cute things in my life in hopes that they would make other people as happy as they make me.
 Here's to another year full of adorable stuff!